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Boulder's Red Lion to stay open past April 1

County rescinds its request that a judge block the only bridge to the restaurant

By Vanessa Miller Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
03/25/2011 09:00:33 PM MDT

Updated:
03/25/2011 09:01:16 PM MDT

Christoph Mueller, owner of the Red Lion, checks the safety signs for his temporary bridge on Feb. 23. The temporary structure, which replaced one damaged last spring by high water in Boulder Creek, has been the source of a dispute between Mueller and Boulder County, but the restaurant is now planning a permanent bridge to meet the county's safety standards.
(
PAUL AIKEN
)

Boulder's Red Lion Restaurant won't have to shutter next week because officials say it has made "substantial progress" on a bridge to permanently replace the one that washed away in high water last spring.

Red Lion officials on Thursday submitted an application for a floodplain permit necessary to build a permanent bridge over Boulder Creek.

Boulder County said the application meets its requirements, and on Friday, the county rescinded its request that a judge block the access route to the restaurant beginning April 1. The restaurant's engineers also have promised to submit design plans for the new bridge soon, said Boulder County Transportation Director George Gerstle.

"We are not asking a judge to shut down the bridge at this point because they're making substantial progress," Gerstle said. "If we don't get the design plans in the next short while, then we will press forward with the litigation. But we're glad they're making some progress."

Boulder County filed a lawsuit in February, asking a judge to order the Red Lion to install a bridge that meets public safety standards and to close the 47-year-old restaurant's only access bridge on April 1.

The closure would have forced the establishment to disappoint about 100 brides who are planning weddings at the Boulder Canyon Drive restaurant this summer.

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The Red Lion's old access bridge washed into Boulder Creek on June 8 under the pressure of high water. The county allowed the restaurant to put up a temporary bridge so it wouldn't have to cancel its events last summer. The agreement, however, required the restaurant to begin construction on a permanent bridge within six months, which did not happen.

The county took legal action because the temporary bridge is "a threat to public health and safety, a threat which will grow substantially more serious in the spring when creek levels rise and a flood event is more likely to occur," according to the lawsuit.

Gerstle told the Camera on Friday that the application for a floodplain permit is a "big step" in getting a new bridge built. Structural design plans for a permanent structure are expected to come in the next 10 days, he said.

"Assuming that will come through as sufficient, we anticipate a building permit could be provided very soon after that," he said. "Then there would be nothing keeping them from building the bridge, from our perspective."

Red Lion owner Christoph Mueller said he hopes to begin construction in the next few weeks, but he's still hoping for financial help from the city of Boulder, which is looking to build a new trail west of town that would link Flagstaff Road to Boulder Canyon via Chapman Drive, a back road that leads to the Red Lion.

Mueller said the city needs to use his bridge to create such a trail, so he wants the city to help him cover the expected $360,000 cost of building a permanent structure.

"We are hoping that the city will help if they want to have access," Mueller said.

City spokesman Patrick von Keyserling said Open Space and Mountain Parks officials have met with Mueller and his attorneys, and they're continuing to have discussions.

But, von Keyserling said, the city has not yet bought the property that would enable it to build a new trail. And, he said, the city would have access to the proposed trail from open space property, meaning it wouldn't need to use Mueller's bridge to complete the project.

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